MWaz Get off your duff challenge

[twilight]

December in our family is pretty much a blur with 2 birthdays, basketball practice for the kiddo, concerts with the kiddo, gift wrapping and of course Christmas hasn't given me much time to sit at the workbench and work on the H-9. Earlier in the month I was able to glue on some of the phosphorus bronze strips I cut from sheet of phosphorus bronze.


And then it sat like this till after Christmas.

Yesterday, I solder on the phosphorus bronze rod. I had to remove the cover plate to bend the rod to the right angle.



I soldered on the leader wires also, put the cover plate back on and ran the wire through the hole left by the screw i was using for the old pick up wire.


I had to swap out the 3 pin connector I was using before and install a 4 pin connector from Minitronics. The left and right outer most will be for the newly installed pick ups(red & black wires). The inner two will be for the motor leads(orange and gray from the decoder).


This is a shot of the complete installation of the new connector.


By the way, when I do the solder connections, I tin the leads, and fold them over making two hooks. Then lock them together, solder and cover with shrink tube.



Shrink tube is on red wire not in place yet.

I also installed the socket of the new 4 pin connector on the decoder/tender side. It does look like a rat nest but I will tuck it all away before I put the tender body back on.


I have done a few test runs, and the pickups are working . I am nearly back at the top end speed I recorded earlier as 48 scale mph. I am at 43, now. I am going to change the way I did the pickups on the tender wheels from the phosphorus bronze rod to wipers made from a Kadee #5 spring. The rods seems to cause drag on the tender wheels. Found some ideas about that on a google search. Hopefully will get to that this weekend.